Latch for vehicle doors



Oct. 9 1923.

l. H. GORDON ET AL LATCH FOR VEHICLE DOORS Filed Dec. 19. 1921 alum [15.Gordon.

6. Ex/Wiles.

Patented Get. 9, 1923.

UE'EED sr'rs M'MME 'r is LATCH FOB VEHICLE DOORS.

Application filed December 19, 1921. Serial no. 523,386.

T 0 alZ whom it may concern Be it known that we, IrHUs H. GORDON andCLARENCE E. MILES, citizens of the United States, residing atLyndonville, in the county of Caledonia and State of Vermont, haveinventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Latches for VehicleDoors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to door latches and is intended more particularlyfor application to automobile and other vehicle doors, but it is, ofcourse, capable of use upon any swinging closure. The object of theinvention is to provide a latch which will effectually retain the door'in closed position without rattling and which will be set to hold thedoor in closed position without slamming ,orotherwise applying greatforce to the door. The invention seeks to provide a latch having thestated characteristics which will-be simple in construction andarrangement and capable of production atua low cost, while possessing ahigh degree of efficiency in actual use. I

Theinvention is'illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whioh 4Figure 1 is a view showing our improved latch in top plan, i

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. l but showing the latch casinginhorizontal section and also showing the parts in the positionassummed-immediately prior to the door reach ing the fully closedposition;

Fig.- 3 is an elevation-of the latch showing the-same in retractedposition; 7

Fig. 4 is a similar view but looking atthe opposite sicleof the latch.

The vehicle bodyl and the door 2 may be of the usual or any preferreddesign, the door beingm-ounted to swing in a horizontal plane inthe'usual manner. The door is con structed with a chamber 3 adjacent itsfree edge in which the latch is mounted, and in the edge of the vehiclebody at the door opening is a transverse groove 4: leading from theouter side of the body to a keeper or strike5, the said keeper or strikeconsisting preferably of a metallic plate set into the edge of the bodyat the door open ing and secured by any convenient means and providedwith a slot or opening 6 disposed vertically and having its verticalwalls converging away from the door opening, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

The latch is mounted upon and between an outer plate 7 and an innerplate 8 which are connected by bolts or screws 9-in the usual manner andare adapted to be secured in the chamber 30f the door by any convenientfastenings. The outer plate 7 will preferably seat within a channel orgroove 10, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, while the inner plate 8 extends tothefree edge of the door and is there provided with a lateral flange 11which extends across the outer open end of the chamber 3 and is formedwith a slot or opening 12 through which the'latch member 13 may projectto engage the slot.6 in the keeper. The latch '13 is preferably a cam oreccentric having its working edge 14 tapered, as shown clearly in Fig.2,whereb-y,' it may fit snugly within the slot 6 of-the keeper andthereby effectually retain the door in closed position, while at thesame time preventing all rattling of the door.- The latch cam oreccentric 13 is carried by a' spindle 15 which is rotatably mounted inthe inner latch plate 8 and in the body of the door and is equipped atits inner end with a lever or crank handle 16. The outer end of the spindle may be extended through the door and equipped with an outer handleor knob 17,

but this handle or knob 17 is not indispensable, especially when thelatch is applied .to open vehicles. A spring 18 is coiled around thespindle 15 hetweenthe latch and the inner surface of'the door body, andhas one end secured to the spindle and the other end secured to thedoor. The spring tends constantly to throw the latch to working positionand, consequently, holds the handle 16 yieldably in the position'assumedby it when the door is fully closed, but light pressure appliedma-nually'to said handlewill serve to overcome the force of the springand withdraw the latch from the keeper so that the door may be opened.VVe also provide a spring 19which is preferably'in the form of aresilient plate disposed-at the rear of the latch and bearing upon theedge ofthe same above tlie'spindle, as shown clearly in, Figs. 3 and 4%,the inner or lower end of the plate being coiled, as shown at 20,whereby it may be held upon one of the bolts or screws which secure thelatch plates 7 and 8 together. This coiled formation also increases theforce exerted by the spring upon the cam or eccentric to move the sameto its working position. The latch cam or eccentric is also provided inits outer fa e wi h a notch or ec ss 2 and arranged to bear against thesaid face is aleaf spring 22 provided with a lug or projection 23adapted to engage the notch 21, the endsof the spring projecting beyondthe edge of the latch and playing in the groove 4 so that it may impingeagainst the edge of the keeper 5, as shown at 24, whereby when the dooris closed, the latch will be automatically released. It will be readilynoted that the retaining spring 22 has one end secured at the back ofthe chamber 3 'containing the latch and is shaped to converge toward thelatch from its secured or anchored end and the lug or tooth 23,consequently, bears constantly against the outer face of the latch sothat it will instantly engage the notch 21 when thelatch has been rockedso as to bring said notch into alinement with the lug.

The. closed posit-ion of the parts is shown in Fig. 1. Ifit be desiredto open the door, thelspindlc is rotated against the tension of thespring 18 by force exerted upon'the handle 16 or the handle 17 and thelatch is thereby rocked so that its tapered edge lei will bevwithdrawnfrom the keeper and the outwardly swinging movement of the door willcause the latch to clear the keeper, as will be readily understood uponreference to Fig. 2. When the latch has been thus rocked, the lug ortooth 23 on the retaining spring or dog 22 will instantly engage thenotch 21 and the latch will then be restrained against reverse movement,the spring 18, however, being under an increased tension. hen the dooris again closed, the latch will, of course, clear the edge of the dooropening in the vehicle body, but the free end of the dog 22 will enterand move along the groove 4 and impinge against the edge of the keeper,whereupon the continued swinging closing movement of the door willeffect disengagement of the lug 23 and the recess 21, whereupon thelatch will be moved into engagement with the keeper by the action of thesprings 18 and 19, as will be readily understood. The beveled form ofthe slot 6 in the keeper and the working edge of the latch permits theseparts to effect a very close engagement so that the door will be veryeffectually held in closed position and all tendency of the same torattle will be overcome. Moreover, as the parts wear throughlong-continued use, the latch will accommodate itself to the greatermovement permitted by the wearing away of the 0p- ..the door is closed.

posed surfaces so that it will enter into deeper engagement with thekeeper when venting rattling of the hinges, and, as the latch is abovethe center of the door, the cam is constantly pulling up on the door sothat, in actual service, the latch holds the door firmly in alldirections.

Having thus described theinvention, what is claimed as new is: f

The combination with a body having a door openin and a swingingclosureadapted to fit wit in said door opening, one edge of the dooropening being provided with a transverse groove, of a keeper secured inthe edge of the door opening; and extending across the inner end of saidgroove and provided with aslot having its side walls converging awayfrom the door opening, an eccentric mounted in the closure for rockingmovement in a plane intersecting the plane of movement of the closure,said eccentric having a tapered edge adapted to fit within the slot inthe keeper and being provided in one side face with a notch, a spindlerotatably mounted in the closure and carrying said eccentric, aretaining spring secured at one end in the closure and disposed adjacentthe side of the eccentric and provided with a lug adapted to engage thenotch therein, the free end of said' spring being adapted to play in thegroove in the body and impinge against the edge ofthe keeper, aspring'coiled around the spindle and having one end secured to theclosure and its opposite end connected with the spin-- dle andeccentric, and a pressure spring secured in the door at the rear of theeccentric and bearing upon the eccentric above the spindle.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures.

IPHUS H. GORDON. 118.1- CLARENCE E. MILES. a

